


Map Out My Heart

by TheMikeWheelers (jasongracefully)



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: F/M, Soulmate AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-02
Updated: 2017-05-02
Packaged: 2018-10-27 02:25:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,712
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10799748
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jasongracefully/pseuds/TheMikeWheelers
Summary: A soulmate au where the coordinates of your soulmate's location are on your wrist, Mike can't help but notice that the coordinates on his wrist never change.





	Map Out My Heart

Mike had always had the small tattoo on his wrist, giving the exact coordinates of where his soulmate was. Everyone had these tattoos, but well, Mike’s was different. 

Everyone else’s always changed continuously, showing the coordinates of wherever their soulmate was in that moment. Mike's never changed, it always showed the same old numbers, never even a single digit difference. 

He didn't like to think about his tattoo growing up. He had no idea why the coordinates never changed. Was his soulmate dead? No, that couldn't be the case, because when someone’s soulmate dies their tattoo just disappears. So if she wasn't dead, then why wouldn't his tattoo change? It wasn't like there was anyone in the world who just stayed in the same spot their entire life. 

For most of his life, Mike just tuned out his tattoo. No one really thought of theirs that much to begin with, it was a cultural norm, everyone had them. They were never seen as something special until you actually met your soulmate. 

So Mike pushed his tattoo to the back of his mind, constantly tuning out any thoughts of love, or hearing other people talk about it. It didn't help that almost every single movie had the terrible cliche of two people realizing they were soulmates from their tattoos. 

Dustin was a completely different person, however. He was always naturally curious, and while others didn't think much of their tattoos, he constantly asked as many questions as he could.

When Mike, Lucas, and Will met Dustin in the fourth grade, and welcomed him into their small group, he began to share his natural curiosity with them. He convinced them to join AV Club, claiming radios and technology were the future, and he always made sure to share his random science fun facts of the day. 

It was only a matter of time before he brought up the question of the tattoos, figuring they should all look up where their soulmates currently were. Outside of Mike’s family, no one knew about his dilemma with his tattoo. He always kept it hidden beneath long sleeves or a watch, not wanting anyone to find out his secret. He wasn't exactly sure what that secret was, but he didn't want anyone knowing there was a possibility of a problem with his tattoo. 

He couldn't come up with a good excuse to say no to Dustin, so the curly haired boy taught them how to find coordinates and they began to track the numbers on their wrists. 

Lucas went first, happy to find out his soulmate was only a few towns away from Hawkins. Maybe she would move there, or they would run into each other some place in between. 

Dustin went next, whose coordinates were a bit farther away, but still in Indiana. His soulmate was in Indianapolis. He grumbled that it would be impossible to find her in the city, but Mike ignored him. They were soulmates, they were going to find each other. At least he knew he definitely had a soulmate out there. 

Will’s coordinates astonished the boys. His soulmate was all the way in New York City! Dustin and Lucas watched in awe, unbelieving that Will was really going to get a soulmate from so far away. 

Mike didn't want to look his up, he'd be perfectly content never knowing anything about his possible soulmate, running from his fear. But he couldn't avoid it now, not with the boys watching expectantly. So he started to track the numbers, and gasped at what he saw. 

“She's in Hawkins!” Dustin exclaimed, “Maybe you're gonna meet her soon!” 

“Maybe he already knows her! What if it's Jennifer Hayes?” Lucas giggled, pointing towards the popular girl on the other side of their classroom. 

“Hey, I think that’s sorta near my house,” Will pointed out. They couldn't pinpoint it down exactly, but it was clear, whoever Mike’s soulmate was was definitely in Hawkins, and she did seem to be near Will’s home. 

Mike was speechless. He had already had so many fears about his soulmate, and he'd spent so much time wondering why she was always in the same place. How could that same place be somewhere in Hawkins, the small town where nothing ever happened? 

If he wasn't terrified before, he was now. Was his soulmate some kind of recluse? Was she in jail? He couldn't think of any other reasons why she was constantly in the same spot, in Hawkins no less.

But then three years went by, and the truth came out in the most devastating ways.

It had been two weeks since El had disappeared, and it felt like every day the pain only grew worse for Mike. 

The week Will went missing had been too chaotic for Mike to notice that his tattoo, for the first time in his life, had changed. It wasn't like he checked it regularly, since he was in fourth grade he made sure to look at his wrist as little as possible. With his best friend gone, soulmates and romance and all that stuff that Mike had begun to consider useless junk were the furthest things from his mind. 

But then he met Eleven, he took her into his home. The way she had a smile that made Mike feel like he was melting, that made him want to see her smile so much more, the way she protected him, even going so far as to sacrifice herself, and the way she was so loyal, compassionate, and kind in ways that Mike didn't truly appreciate until she was gone-- all this made Mike believe for this first time in so long, maybe he could find love after all. 

He didn't want to get his hopes up, to believe that after all this time, and after all the denial and anger he went through to accept the fact that something was wrong with his tattoo and he didn't have a soulmate, to believe there was even a possibility she could be out there. But every time he thought of El, his heart broke and ached in ways that deep down he knew weren't feelings for a friend. 

Then the story of El’s past came out. All the puzzle pieces fit together. She had been in Hawkins her whole life, but she was trapped inside the lab, always stuck in the same spot. So close to Mike, but guarded by so many secrets. 

On a hunch, Mike checked his tattoo, and frankly he wished he hadn't. The coordinates with the numbers he had memorized at this point had changed, but that wasn't the only difference in the tattoo. 

The numbers were flipped upside down from the direction they normally faced, and Mike knew all too well what that meant. She was out of the lab, she was free, but she was still gone, in a place he'd rather die than have to see her go to. 

Eleven, the love of his life, his soulmate, was in the Upside Down. 

He didn't know how to feel. For the first time in Mike’s life, he knew he had a soulmate, without a doubt in his mind he knew it was her. He had a soulmate, _Eleven_ was his soulmate. But she was gone, and Mike didn't know if he would ever see her again. He was still terrified to check his tattoo, because every day he feared would be the last day the coordinates were there, before they just disappeared along with El. 

Maybe that single week with her had been all the time the universe decided to give Mike with his soulmate. The universe was cruel like that sometimes. After all these years, Mike thought he had finally accepted life without a soulmate, but now, after meeting El, he didn't want to consider such a possibility. 

On a Saturday morning, Mike found himself biking around Hawkins aimlessly. Well, when he looked back at his path later, he realized it wasn't so aimless. He was visiting all the spots he had gone to with El. First he had visited the school, then the quarry, then the junkyard, now he was trekking down the old train tracks in the woods. He just wanted to visit every place she had been to, every place where she had breathed a little life into, because maybe he could find some small pieces of her there. 

He hadn't really meant to end up outside the lab, staring up at the fence that once separated El from the rest of the world. Two weeks ago, being there would have made Mike angry, it would have made him scream and yell about how unfair it was that Eleven had to go through that, but now Mike couldn't get angry. He couldn't feel any emotions in their entirety, not anger or happiness or anything, all he could really feel was the dull ache in his chest. 

The lab should have made him angry, but it didn't. It was just one of the many reminders of El. A part of Mike felt selfish, wishing that she was back in there instead of the Upside Down. She may be free now, but she was gone. At least from the lab Mike may have been able to save her. 

Mike looked down at his tattoo and almost laughed at the irony. After all these years of the coordinates of the lab being on his wrist, now they must be on El’s. Mike wondered if she even understood what the numbers meant, if she knew what a soulmate was, if she knew that he was her soulmate. 

“Please come back, El,” He spoke into the chilly November breeze, hoping that somehow, wherever in the Upside Down she was, she could hear him. 

“This entire time I was so naive. I didn't think I could have a soulmate, that I was broken or something. But then I met you and for the first time in my life, I felt like someone could actually love me. Even if you don't know what it means, you're my soulmate and I need you.”

Mike took two deep breaths, wiping the loose tears that had escaped from his eyes. 

“It's always been you, El. Please come back to me.”


End file.
